“You canna possibly be here alone?” He continued.
She tilted her head. “Any why is that?”
The man chuckled. “Lass, no woman who looks the way you do remains alone in Scotland for long.”
“Maybe I’d like to be alone.”
“Understood,” he nodded, “but should you change your mind-”
“I won’t.”
Kraven cleared his throat then, smiling when he captured their attention.
The man speaking with Darby appeared more than a little relieved by the interruption.
“Cullen,” Kraven greeted when the man reluctantly left Darby’s side.
Cullen Nevis clasped one of Kraven’s hands between both of his beefy ones. “Heard you were around, thought I might stop up for a drink.” He looked Darby’s way. “Understandably, I got a little side-tracked.”
“Understandably,” Kraven’s lips twitched as he fought to suppress laughter. He took Cullen’s arm and drew him down the hall.
“Cullen Nevis, Darby Ellis.”
Cullen’s expression brightened as his blue eyes twinkled. “Ah…so she’s yours.” He clapped Kraven’s shoulder. “I might’ve known.” Clearing his throat, he extended a hand for shaking. “Ms. Ellis,” he greeted.
“I’m mine, Mr. Nevis.” Darby clarified while accepting the shake. “Nice to meet you,” She walked on, leaving both men staring after her.
“God man,” Cullen breathed, “where in creation did you find her?”
Kraven bumped Cullen’s shoulder with his own. “She found me. She found me.” He said and followed Darby to the elevators.
~EIGHT~
“People in Scotland can’t possibly eat dinner like this every night and live past forty.” Darby marveled later while studying her menu.
Kraven shrugged, frowning slightly as he too studied the bistro’s choices. “We’re a nation of hearty eaters. It’s in our blood.”
“I’ll say,” Darby laughed as she spotted a dish called Cauliflower Cheese and Whiskey.
The couple was still scanning menus when Kraven’s name was called and yet another acquaintance stopped to chat.
Chatting however was clearly a ruse to take a closer look at Kraven DeBurgh’s dinner companion.
Erik McHale greeted his old friend absently. His vivid blue gaze was riveted on Darby. He reached for her hand and introduced himself after only a few seconds of conversation with Kraven.
“Erik McHale, Ms. Darby Ellis of California.” Kraven shared.
Erik’s thin face revealed deeper interest. “California… well you’re a beauty- an absolute beauty.”
Darby coolly extracted her hand from his. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“No love, the pleasure is most definitely mine.” He smiled and then turned to knock a fist to Kraven’s shoulder. “Nice DeBurgh, very nice.”
Kraven barely nodded and never looked away from Darby. “Are you ready to order?” He asked once they were alone.
She pushed her menu across the table. “Whatever you’re having is fine with me.”
Kraven waved and within seconds a waiter arrived. As the evening continued, Kraven settled in to observe Darby more closely than usual. He was most intrigued by the way she accepted the compliments that continued from his many acquaintances that approached the table. When they were half way through the meal, Kraven decided to prove to himself that he wasn’t imagining things.
“Do you have any idea how incredible you are?” he leaned across the table and asked her.
She bristled, the knife and fork she held paused over the honey and lemon chicken. “If I didn’t know it before tonight, I do now.”
Kraven barely smirked. Dinner passed in silence.
~~~
The silence went on and could have probably gone on through the night when they returned to the suite. Darby strolled over to gaze out from the lower level balcony while
Kraven dropped his keys to the message desk. He followed her across the room, hands hidden in his pockets.
“So how’d you enjoy your meal?” He bowed his head to ask. “’Spose it was pretty hard to focus on it properly with all the interruptions- flattering interruptions though they were.” He could easily see the stiffening of her neck and shoulders thanks to her upswept hairstyle.
“Flattering hmm?” She rolled her eyes. “Why Kraven? Because it just makes a black woman’s day to have a white man tell her she’s lovely?”
Kraven nodded. He’d guessed she was a woman who wore her looks with unease but hated to think it had anything to do with the reason she’d just shared.
He took a step forward. “Did that make you feel uncomfortable?”
“Did what make me feel uncomfortable?”
Kraven winced, but didn’t lose his nerve. “Did someone offend you tonight?”
Darby turned her anger towards him then. Anger towards anyone was without merit. No one had actually offended her. Still, the anger stirred all the same and; as Kraven was its nearest recipient…
“Did anyone offend me?” She folded her arms across her chest and continued to brood toward the view. “You mean did anyone spout off one of the numerous stereotypical insights that white men think flatter black women? How our bodies look like they’re made for fucking or how…enthusiastic we are in the sack?”
Kraven tasted bile souring the back of his throat and couldn’t help but grimace. How many times had he been within earshot of conversations where those very words had been spoken? They angered him then and now that anger was compounded by the fact that the woman he’d come to treasure probably had those very words spoken to her.
“I pride myself on not being an idiot, Darby.” He managed to keep the rage from coloring his voice and kept clenched fists shielded in his trouser pockets. “I also take pride in not having idiots for friends. If you were offended, then I am sorry.”
She felt like a heel and didn’t need to look his way to know she’d hurt him. His voice relayed it all just fine. She’d been prepared (and subconsciously anticipating) an offensive incident that night. She was disappointed and left with no where to direct her anger except toward him. He was the last person she wanted to quarrel with- the last person who deserved her anger. Yet she stood there warring with stubbornness until her phone vibrated inside the small purse on her shoulder. She dug it out and; seeing the name on the faceplate, all else fled her mind.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Darby’s eyes were wide when she pressed the phone to her ear. “What? No…” she turned from the balcony and walked until she found the first chair to sink into. “When?...How?...yes, yes you know I will…no don’t be stupid, you know I’ll be there… alright… alright, bye.”
“That was Nile,” she explained feeling Kraven towering above her. “Her mother…her mother is dead.” She felt his hand clutch her upper arm. “She- she was killed.”
“How?” He whispered his emerald stare narrowed in suspicion and disbelief.
Darby was shaking her head. “You’ll have to call Taurus. Nile…could hardly tell me anything.” With effort, she pushed out of the chair. “Kraven I have to go.” She waited for him to release her arm.
He didn’t. “I can have you there in a few hours.”
Again, she was shaking her head. “I need to go now. I-I need to go alone.”
He released her then. His heart slowed, but he wouldn’t question where things stood. She didn’t need that then. Instead he calmed himself with the knowledge that she was his. It would just take more time. It would take time and a great deal of effort to get her to see the extent to which she’d possessed him. Asking him to walk away- to give up on what they might have just wasn’t an option for him.
Darby accepted him releasing her arm as the end of the dramatic events for the evening. Awkwardly she inched around him. “I’ll just get my stuff. We’re in Edinburgh- it shouldn’t be far to the airport, right?”
“A car will be waiting downstairs when you’re ready to go.” His voice
was soft and it was a wonder he could remain standing as weak as he’d become. “What about the rest of your things?”
“I’ll let you know where to send them.” She sprinted up the stairway.
~NINE~
Los Angeles, California~ One Week Later…
Kraven pushed the fist; that had been poised to knock, back inside his jean pocket. He’d been telling himself that she needed more time but…patience had never been his strong suit.
Actually, he hadn’t even given her a day. He’d headed out the very next morning after she’d left Edinburgh and followed her out to Seattle for Yvonne Wilson’s funeral. The service was over when he arrived. He found Nile shaking hands with the few souls in attendance and went to offer his condolences.
He knew without asking that Darby was gone. Nile confirmed that he’d just missed her and the knowledge of that threatened to break him down right there. The newlyweds didn’t begrudge him leaving. They knew his underlying reasons for attending the service.
Nile wished him luck and it was easy for Kraven to sense that there was more she wanted to say. He didn’t need to hear it for he could very well imagine the ugly events that had shaped Darby Ellis’ life and forced her to react to things the way she did.
Instead of a lecture, Nile only gave him the address and told him to be careful with her friend.
Kraven closed his eyes then and recalled his response to Nile’s instruction: He loved Darby too much to be anything else.
Now, standing outside her door, he didn’t have a devil of a clue as to how to proceed. He’d even put off going to see her for the first few days after his arrival. Finally he realized that coming up with the perfect approach would be impossible. The dilemma was taken out of his hands seconds later.
“Damn blood-sucking plumbers,” Darby was growling when she pulled open her door. A cell phone was pressed to her ear while her other hand gripped a heavy portfolio case. “Shelby just tell him to keep his pants up and I’ll-” she turned, words failing at the sight of Kraven DeBurgh filling her doorway.
“Tell him no more haggling- he doesn’t like it we’ll go someplace else.” She shut down the phone and gazed upon Kraven in awe.
He acted as though an appearance in her doorway were an everyday occurrence. “In or out?” He asked, waving toward the portfolio.
Of course, Darby couldn’t answer. She simply blinked and stepped back from the door. Kraven took the large square case and leaned it to a wall while kicking the door shut. Casually, he strolled in; taking in the surroundings of her home and smiling at its mellow elegance. The pastel coloring offset the brick walls and lent an almost tangible yet understated warmth to the dwelling.
Darby watched as he observed, unable to get over how at ease he appeared. In Scotland, she believed the man would look out of place anywhere other than his manor house with the castle eclipsing it. That image however was simply another facet to his allure. It was the cool that could only shawl the heat, the gentleness which shadowed the power.
Still, none of that prepared her for the element of defeat that clung to him when he appeared to give out and sink to her sofa. He leaned forward, head bowed, elbows braced on his knees.
On uncertain steps, Darby moved closer to one of the two armchairs that flanked the sofa. He began to speak just as her fingers clenched the back of the chair.
“I was about seventeen when I ran away. Really ran away.” He clarified with a pitiful attempt at smirking. “There’s a cluster of islands above Scotland- the Orkneys. Further out, there’s another called Shetland Islands, but between those two are others- smaller…many aren’t even charted.” He dragged a hand through his hair and cleared his throat. “I made my way to the Orkneys looking for one of my uncles…I didn’t find him, but what I did find…”
Darby was seated on the armchair by then, her legs tucked up and hidden beneath the pleats of her azure skirt. She was riveted and didn’t even want to breathe for fear he’d stop talking.
“Somehow…I found my way to a boat that was headed toward the Shetlands. It was a boat filled with other kids- boys my age. They were all talking about some fantastic oasis that was waiting for them…I had no idea what the hell they meant, didn’t dare call too much attention to myself as I was a mere stowaway…” he appeared to relax a bit as he purged more of the story. “The others had been educated, sold on the idea that whatever this place was it was a damn sight better than anything any of us had come from. It all sounded like heaven to me- getting away from my parents, responsibility, expectations, rules…I was all for it.” His baritone voice wavered slightly. “It wasn’t an oasis though…it was…” he couldn’t finish, gave a jerky shrug to silence whatever else he’d been prepared to share.
He buried his face in his hands and shuddered. Darby tightened her grip on the seat cushions to stop herself from going to him.
“I’ve done things Darby. Things I’ve done out of a belief that they were for the best reasons- with the most honorable intentions. With age comes…clarity.” He smiled then and finally looked over at her.
“Working my family’s land now is as much about silencing my demons as it is about being redeemed for the actions I committed because of them.” His shoulders rose beneath the black denim jacket he sported. “I’ve got a feeling the redemption part’s gonna take a lot more effort than erecting a lodge and becoming a farmer.”
Darby moved closer then. “Why are you doing this?” She brushed his hand from his hair and replaced it with her own. “Why would you belittle what you’re trying to do to improve your life?”
Kraven was grabbing her hand before she even realized he’d moved. “Because I’ve done all this with no expectation of reward-no expectation of happiness. Ever. Then, there you were.” His striking greens raked her face. “I don’t know whether God is torturing me- reminding me of one more thing I’d better not expect or whether there is a reward for my redemption.”
“Kraven-”
“I love you.”
“What?”
“Don’t do that,” he snapped and gave her hand a warning squeeze. “Don’t act like you’ve got no idea. Did you really think this was just sex?” Sleek brows rose briefly. “Earth shattering as it is, it’s a great deal more…for me anyway.”
Her hand went limp inside his.
“I’m sorry for what happened in Scotland, Darby.”
She scooted close then and rested her fingers across his mouth. “There’s nothing for you to apologize for. Nothing.” She blinked to keep pressuring tears at bay. “You showed me the best time, gave me nothing but your respect…your friends were only being nice- with lots of enthusiasm, but nothing more.”
“No lass,” his brows drew close and he cupped her face. “They weren’t being nice. They were being bloody honest as hell.”
Her smile was sweetness and sorrow intertwined. “You can’t love me, Kraven. “ She took note of the anger blazing in his eyes but scooter closer to him just the same. “Do you know what kind of agitation, frustration, sorrow, rage…you’re letting yourself in for?” She shook her head. “I’ve experienced it so often that I’m weary of it. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy and I-”
He broke her speech with a lusty kiss that had her moaning seconds after his tongue had engaged hers.
“Kraven stop,” she resisted until he allowed her to push him away barely. “Do you think your friends would be flattering if they knew your feelings went deeper than lust for a little weekend diversion? Or what about the good people in that beautiful little town of yours? Do you really think they’d accept this? And these…these sons you speak of having- with me? Please! Do you actually think your family would accept your black sons Kraven?”
“Yes, love.”
His answer was so endearing and given without a second of hesitation. Her heart melted along with the rest of her and she could only slump back on the sofa. She was stunned and could think of nothing else to say. He knelt before her, the beautiful scarred hands curled ar
ound the backs of her knees.
“I canna begin to understand all the hurt and ugly things you’ve had to endure, love.” He bowed his head, nuzzling the crook of her neck. “I hope that in time I can fill your world with things as incredible as you are-things that’ll push all that ugliness to a place in your mind that you’ll never have to revisit.”
The tears wouldn’t remain at bay then. They filled the shamrock green of her stare and blurred the intensity of Kraven’s when he moved back to study her. Quickly she wiped the wetness from her cheeks.
“I’ve experienced this ugliness at both ends, you know?” She sat a little straighter on the sofa. “I’ve had the misfortune of attaching my emotions to black men I was too white for and white men I was too black for. It never worked out with any of them,” her smile was sad and trembled in the wake of a sob. “Do you know what that does to a person after while Kraven? Can you imagine what it does to a woman?”
He leaned close again, pressing his forehead to hers. “Were any of them- any of those men…were any of them me, lass?”
She cried then, unabashed and unrelenting. The tears splashed to the hands clenched in her lap. Kraven let her expel the emotion, knowing it’d most likely been pent up for years. He moved to the sofa, pulling her flush against him.
“Hold onto me, lass.” He kissed her cheek, “Hold onto me. If you believe in me, what I can give you, what you can give me, hold onto me.”
She clutched him then, desperate for him, desiring him, loving him…
“It’s alright, it’s alright,” he soothed, smiling as he rocked her.
For the first time in her life, Darby believed it was true.
His mouth began a slow graze at her temple, along the curve of her cheekbone and he laughed when she spoke the words he longed to hear.
“Kraven, Kraven I do love you. I love you.” She professed moments before his kiss claimed her and she repeated the words when he finally let her up for air.
The kiss went from sweet and promising, to branding and fiery in the span of seconds. That familiar elation Kraven felt with Darby in his arms surged up and throughout. It filled him with a euphoria that he could (and would) live on forever.
The Ramseys Boxed Set Page 148
